Rideau Hall, Thursday, May 24, 2007

It occurs to me that the most appropriate greeting might be “welcome back” to Rideau Hall, as I’m sure most of you have a long history with this place!

And of course “history” is the right word when talking about the Canadiana Fund; since 1990, your organization has played a vital role in celebrating an essential element of Canadian history.

You have done this by embellishing our country’s official residences through the collection and distribution of furnishings and artworks that are a part of our national heritage.

Go into any of the state areas here at Rideau Hall, and you will find many signs of the Canadiana Fund’s tireless efforts.

From Louis XV furniture to paintings by celebrated Canadian artists to beautiful decorative pieces with special historical significance, there are many reminders of your organization’s important work.

And Rideau Hall is certainly not the only location that has benefited from your kind attention.

La Citadelle in Quebec City, 24 Sussex Drive, Stornoway and Canada’s other official residences have all been enhanced by art and furnishings that have been presented by the Fund.

Your efforts deserve our praise for a number of reasons.

First, you are helping to preserve unique pieces of Canada’s artistic and decorative heritage.

Without your involvement, many of these treasures may well have been sold to overseas buyers, or lost forever in dusty warehouses or the attics of private homes. You have given them a new lease on life.

Second, by distributing these items to the official residences, you ensure that they are enjoyed and appreciated by thousands of visitors, from foreign heads of State and their delegations to all those visitors on art and heritage tours.

And finally, I think it is very important that this place—a “home for all Canadians”—be a showcase for Canadian art, in all its many forms.

We are a young country without centuries of artistic or cultural achievement, as one might find in China, Greece, Egypt, England, France or Italy.

Nonetheless, through your work you remind us in a very eloquent way that we have works that we can all celebrate, and be proud of.

By encouraging people to donate such pieces to the Crown, and by helping to preserve them for posterity, the Canadiana Fund helps strengthen Canada’s national identity.

All of you here today, and your many donors, have demonstrated tremendous civic spirit. I hope you all take pride in the fact that you have helped to enrich your country by bringing such beauty into the public spaces of the official residences.

That is why I am so proud to be the Honorary Patron of the Canadiana Fund. On behalf of your fellow Canadians, I thank you all for your great dedication to this cause.

I also want to congratulate you on your many achievements, and wish you all continued success in the years ahead. In closing, I wish you a very pleasant evening.

Thank you.